I've been messing around on the bench this evening trying to tie a reasonable imitation of a dragonfly nymph for my outings this weekend. After dubbing a few bodies, I decided to give the "nymph rib" a shot; see what you think...

I like it. I was just tying midges with olive thread covered by tippet stock. The translucency is great. I've been debating using a light thread, then a marker for the back. Let me know if you want an adult imitation.

Location: The West Kootenays mighty Columbia, Dean, and one day the Thompson

Posts: 170

You sure thats a Dragon fly nymph

flyfisha1:

Great looking fly and I know it will catch fish when the damsels are hatching....but are you sure this is a dragonfly....looks long and slender like a damsel. Dragons are far more robust in the abdomen. Not slamming the fly at all, it looks great, just thought it may have been a slip up in saying it was a dragon?

Nicely done....tell me how did you do the head? It looks like you carried the nymph rib up and onto the head with burnt mono eyes

Jake - You're right, dragonfly nymphs are big buggers, that's for certain; I remember as a child seeing their husks attached to the underside of our dock and thinking, "What the heck is that?!?" This pattern may be more aptly called a damselfly nymph, as you suggest. I've tied a couple of fatter-bodied flies up that might pass for a d'fly, however the issue becomes trying to maintain adequate gap; I may need to try different hooks.
I bring the rib up to behind the head, which has the mono eyes attached via figure-8, then tie the rib off and tie in the marabou. The marabou used for the legs and wing, as you might suspect, are the same fibers, tied in at the bottom of the shank, then brought up and over the eye and secured atop the shank; the wing is then clipped to the "right size", as near as I can make it.
I may try to tie a couple of dragonfly nymphs up using a waddington shank, but I think that simply using a longer shank hook in general will enable me to maintain the gap needed.

Location: The West Kootenays mighty Columbia, Dean, and one day the Thompson

Posts: 170

Another idea for a wider body

Hi Chris....I used to have the problem with closing the gap on making fatter bodied dragons.....then I found a helper. Go to your local drug store and go into the section that sells toothpaste etc. Look for a style of wooden toothpick known as a " Stimudent"
they are taper tooth picks that can be lashed onto the side of the hook with the long taper to the front. Trim the rear taper rather blunt and you have a nice wide bodied fly with a little floatation , that, when fished on a full sink will keep the fly just above the weedbeds.

When lashing on the stimudents, tie them to the sides of the hook with the edge or flat to the hook shank and the nice taper to the outside edge, you want a nice wide flat look to the hook. I hope I am clear on the directions here. If you did a cross section of the hook with the stimudents tied in place , you should have a nice diamond shape this way. looking from the rear <>. This leaves the gap alone but gives you a nice wide abdomen.

Some of the flytyers I know use the same method to fatten up their Stone fly patterns

Jake, I must be going senile before the age of 30... I tied some squid patterns using toothpicks to extend the length of the fly off the bend before I started using brads instead (more durability for saltwater use). Yes, I have some toothpicks that are similar in shape to what you describe; I'll give that a try, as the added weight from the toothpicks should be essentially negligible. I've just been at the bench tying something with a fatter abdomen up... here it is...

And again...
This is using beadchain eyes painted with black nail polish, a dubbed underbody, and the rib wound on more loosely to permit the fibers from the dubbing to project out from the bodyl otherwise, it's the same fly tied on a size 6.